via Nature, 28 November 2023: Nature is the first news outlet to pick up the backlash over the incredulous claims over Gunung Padang (see here, here and here). The claim that Gunung Padang in Indonesia houses a pyramid over 27,000 years old, potentially predating Egypt’s pyramids and Göbekli Tepe, has sparked controversy in the archaeological community. Published in ‘Archaeological Prospection’, the paper suggests multiple construction phases at Gunung Padang, with the earliest dating back to 27,000 years ago. Critics argue the findings lack clear evidence of human construction, suggesting natural rock movements instead. The claims have led to an investigation by the journal’s publisher, Wiley, and debate over the site’s significance in human history.
That would make it much older than first colossal Egyptian pyramid, the 4,600-year-old Pyramid of Djoser. It would also mean it pre-dates the oldest known megalithic site, Göbekli Tepe in Turkey, which was built by stone-masons around 11,000 years ago. And it would completely rewrite what is known about human civilization in the area. “The pyramid has become a symbol of advanced civilization,” says paper co-author Danny Hilman Natawidjaja, a geologist at the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) in Bandung, Indonesia. “It’s not easy to build pyramids. You need high masonry skills,” he says.
It’s exactly such claims that have left many fellow researchers cold. Lutfi Yondri, an archaeologist at BRIN in Bandung, Indonesia, says his work has shown that people in the region inhabited caves between 12,000 and 6,000 years ago, long after the pyramid was supposedly built, and no excavations from this period have revealed evidence of sophisticated stonemasonry.
“I’m surprised [the paper] was published as is,” says Flint Dibble, an archaeologist at Cardiff University, UK. He says that although the paper presents “legitimate data”, its conclusions about the site and its age are not justified.
Source: A 27,000-year-old pyramid? Controversy hits an extraordinary archaeological claim
See also:
- Archaeologists Found an Extraordinary Pyramid That’s Apparently 27,000 Years Old | Popular Mechanics, 29 November 2023
- The 25,000 Year Old “Pyramid” In Indonesia Was Likely Not Made By Humans | IFL Science, 29 Nov 2023
- Experts Doubt Claims that World’s Oldest Pyramid Was Discovered in Indonesia | SciAm, 29 Nov 2023
- Archaeologists Call Foul on the Purported Discovery of a 27,000-Year-Old Pyramid | ArtNet News, 07 Dec 2023
- 25,000-year-old ‘pyramid’ with ‘hidden chambers’ was likely not made by humans | UNILAD, 07 Dec 2023
- Pyramid in Java Predates Egypt’s Oldest Pyramid? | The Collectore, 08 Dec 2023
